Art & Soul, the weekend music and art festival that has drawn tens of thousands of attendees and become a yearly staple since 2001, is canceled this year, and its future is uncertain, organizers announced Friday.
Last December, the City Council awarded $1.3 million to Oakland-based arts and culture organizations for events and programming. $947,000 came from the city’s general fund and $380,000 from the hotel tax.
Art & Soul was among the grantees set to receive funding in March. However, according to Samee Roberts, the festival’s executive director, the city is late issuing funds.
“I was told that it could be several months before we get our funding,” Roberts said. That delay makes paying for the festival impossible.
Art & Soul started as a multi-day cultural affair and for years was supported by a $150,000 city grant, but organizers were forced to put the festival on hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. In 2022, it returned as a one-day festival, but the city cut its support back to $20,000. Over the past two years, festival organizers have planned to use the city’s $20,000 contribution to pay bills for the previous year’s festival. The current funding delay makes it impossible for Art & Soul to square away all of its debt for the 2023 event, which had a total budget of $110,000.
“The risk is just too great to move forward with a festival this year,” Roberts said.
According to Roberts, the festival’s financial strain is significant. The nonprofit doesn’t have cash reserves to put on this year’s festival, especially with the uncertainty of further delays for the next grant cycle.
In addition, last September, the city changed its guidelines for the Neighborhood Voices for Festivals grant. The events must happen no later than June 30, 2024, which makes Art & Soul ineligible since the event takes place in September.
The future of the Neighborhood Voices for Festivals grant is also uncertain. Mayor Sheng Thao is set to announce her budget for the 2025-2027 fiscal year this week. Although the Cultural Affairs Division accounts for just one-third of 1% of Oakland’s budget, given the current $177 million shortfall, deep cuts across all departments are possible. The city didn’t respond to a request for more information about funding for the festival.
